Life in the State of Poverty

What is it like to live in poverty in Fairfax
County?

The Fairfax County Community Action Advisory Board (CAAB) sponsors the
“Life in the State of Poverty” simulation several times a year for a
variety of community and government groups. This simulation experience
is a community education program designed to help participants begin to
understand what it might be like to be a part of a typical low-income
family. The objective is to increase the community's awareness of the
realities of life faced by low-income people and to review community
resources that are available to them and all families.

If you would like to co-sponsor a simulation for your group or
organization, please call 703-324-7869 or send an email to caab@fairfaxcounty.gov.

The Simulation Experience

The Poverty Simulation is designed to help participants begin to
understand what it might be like to live in a typical low-income family
trying to survive from month to month. It is a simulation, not a game.
The object is to sensitize participants to the realities faced by
low-income people.

In the simulation, 30 to 75 participants assume the roles of up to 26
different families facing poverty. Some are newly unemployed. Some are
recently deserted by the "breadwinner," and others are
recipients of TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, formerly
AFDC), either with or without additional earned income. Still others
are disabled or are senior citizens receiving Social Security. The task
of the "families" is to provide for basic necessities and
shelter during the course of four 15-minute "weeks."

The simulation is conducted in a large room with the
"families" seated in-groups in the center. Around the perimeter
are tables representing community resources and services for the
families. These services include a bank, community action agency, local
employer, social services office, pawnbroker, grocery and where
possible a school.

Volunteers, preferably persons who have faced or are facing poverty,
are recruited to staff the resource tables. Volunteers are also
recruited to assume the roles of police officer, utility collector, and
landlord/rent collector.

The experience lasts from two to three hours. It includes an
introduction and briefing, the actual simulation exercise, and a
debriefing period in which participants and volunteer staffers share
their feelings and experiences.